Conventional tilting-pad journal bearings are provided with an aligning ring on which is mounted a series of bearing shoes that are positioned so as to face the surface of a rotating shaft. Lubrication is provided to the bearing by feeding oil into passageways in the aligning ring that lead to a location between the shoes, or by flooding the inside of the aligning ring and the shoes with oil. The aligning ring surrounds the bearing shoes, therefore preventing the working surface of the bearing shoes from disengaging the rotating shaft by moving in the radial direction. The bearing shoes are prevented from disengaging the aligning ring in an axial direction of the shaft by retaining plates that are secured to the top and bottom of the aligning ring. These retaining plates trap the bearing shoes within the aligning ring, thereby prohibiting relative movement between the bearing shoes and the aligning ring in the axial direction of the shaft during use. As a result, the bearing shoes can not disengage the aligning ring by sliding in the axial direction along the shaft. In other prior art journal bearings, the bearing shoes are properly secured in the aligning ring through the use of screws, bolts, or the like.
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a prior art journal bearing 2 that utilizes retaining plates to restrict axial movement of the bearing pads. The prior art journal bearing 2 comprises an aligning ring 3, retaining plates 4–5, and a plurality of bearing shoes 6. The bearing shoes 6 are positioned within the aligning ring 3 and are sandwiched between the retaining plates 4–5. Details of such a prior art journal bearing are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,568,204, Chambers, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
While such prior art journal bearings perform their supporting function adequately, the use of retaining plates increases the number of components used to form the journal bearing. This results in an increase in manufacturing costs, greater potential for failure between parts, and an increase in both installation difficulty and installation time.